Improvement in apparatus for forming sheets of ice



J. GAMGEE.

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UNITED STATES JOHN GAMGEE, OF CHELSEA, GREAT BRITAIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEETS OF ICE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 204,210, dated May 28,1878 application filed October 16, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN GAMG-EE, of 379 Kings Road, Chelsea, in thecounty of Middlesex and Kingdom of Great Britaimat present residing atMetropolitan Hotel, Washington, District of Columbia, in the UnitedStates of America, have invented certain Improvements Applicable to theFormation and Maintenance of Skating-Rinks, of which the following is aspecification The object of my invention is to produce a solid sheet ofice capable ofsupporting numerous skaters, and to enable it to resistthe surrounding heat.

Various efforts have previously been made to produce artificiallyice-surfaces for skating upon; but none of them have been successful.According to some, saline solutions,

have been caused to flow beneath a metal surface, which has beenintended as the support for water to be frozen into ice; but thesesolutions freeze at a temperature of 18 Fahrenheit when stagnant and at8 or 10 when in active-circulation, so that, if a freezing-machine issuddenly stopped and the moving brine or saline solution brought to astand-still, it will solidify and destroy the metal tubes or surfaces.Now, instead of a saline solution, I employ a liquid which will notcongeal above 0 Fahrenheit, such as glycerine and water mixed in equalproportions by measurement, or alcohols, and I cause it to flow beneatha metal surface upon which the water to be frozen into ice rests.

As it is essential to keep the metal space beneath the ice always fullof the above-mentioned liquid, the ordinary method of direct circulationby pumps is not efficacious, and as, also, it may be necessary toconcentrate the cooling powers of several machines at special points, Iemploy elevated reservoirs of a refrigerant, in which the liquid isfirst cooled and maintained at a very low temperature, and from which itis permitted to flow evenly under the metal surface.

Sometimes I supplement the power of a freezing-machine by immersing thevessel coutainin g the above-mentioned.freezing-liquid in or causing thefreezing-liquid to flow through a vessel or tank containing ice andsalt, ice and chloride of calcium,or other refrigerating-salt or icethrough which strong brine or a solution of some refrigerating-salt ismade to circulate. Thus as fast as the ice on the surface of the rinkbecomes cut up it may be thrown into the ice tank, and therebyeconomized.

Where freezing machinery cannot be erected, or when a sufficient supplyof ice can be obtained without the use of machinery, I sometimes employice with refrigerating-salts to cool the freezing-liquid used to makeand maintain the ice on the rink-that is to say, I put ice and salts ina vessel, throughwhich the freezing-liquid is caused to circulate, sothat the freezing-liquid may be reduced to a low temperature, and Icause it to circulate below the metal floor of the rink, so as to freezethe water thereon. I thus form and maintain an ice-rink without theemployment of ice machinery at the spot.

Finally, I cause currents of cold dry air to .pass over the surface ofthe ice at intervals,

or continuously, especially in warm weather, and for the purpose ofconfining such currents of cold air to the surface, or of conforming thecold air to the surface when artificially-produced currents are notpassed over it, I sometimes stretch a non-conducting cover temporarilyover the ice at a distance therefrom of,

say, six or eight inches, or thereabout; and, in order that the mannerof carrying my inven tion into effect may be fully understood, I annex asheet of drawings, showing how'l prefer to arrange the vrink and theapparatus connected therewith.

In these drawings, Figure l'is a plan of a rink, and Fig. 2 a verticalsection through the the rink and machine-room.

A is the floor of the rink, on which the freezing-pipes B are laid.These pipes are of U shape, one branch opening into the generalsupply-pipe O and the other into the general outlet-pipe D. E is therefrigerator for cooling the freezing-liquid. F is the pipe conductingthe freezing-liquid from the refrigerator to the pump G, by which it iselevated through the pipe H to the reservoir I. The pipe J conducts thefreezing-liquid from the reservoir or accumulator I into the generalsupply-pipe O. K is the return-pipe from the general outlet-pipe to therefrigerator. The pipes B are covered with water to a depth of about twoinches, (more or less.)

The action is as follows: The freezing-liquid PATENT OFFICE.

flows from the reservoir I, by the pipe J, into the supplypipe C, whenceit passes into one branch of each U-shaped' freezingpipe B, traversingwhich it passes at the farther end into the second branch of thefreezingpipe, and after traversing this branch it enters the generaloutlet-pipe D. It next passes, by the pipe K, to the refrigerator E,where, being cooled, it passes by the pipe F to the pump G, which forcesit through the pipe H into the reservoir or accumulator I, to be againsent into the rink, and so on. Sometimes I place the refrigerator or anadditional refrigerator in the reservoir I.

Fig.3 shows how the power of a freezing-1n achine may be supplemented,either by immersing the freezingmachine itself or the elevated reservoirin a vessel containing ice and salt, ice and chloride of calcium, orother refrigerating salt or ice through which strong brine or a solutionof some refrigerating-salt is made to circulate. X is the refri geratoror reservoir, as the case may be, placed in and surrounded by a vessel,Y, containing the ice and salt or other ingredients, Z, above-named.Thesolution of brine or other refrigeratingsalt may be made to circulatethrough the said ingredients Z, as shown by the arrows; or, instead ofimmersing the refrigerator or the reservoir in a vessel, as shown inFig. 3, I cause the freezing-liquid to pass through a vessel containingice and salt, ice and chloride of calcium, or other refrigerating-salt,as represented in vertical sectionin Fig. 4, in which Sis the vessel; T,the return-pipe from the rink; U, a set of smaller pipes, by which theliquid from the pipe T passes to an upper pipe, V, leading to therefrigerator.

In Fig. 2, L represents the non-conducting cover stretched over theice-surface. Between it and the surface of the ice the cold air isretained. This cover maybe rolled on a roller, M, when not in use, and,if large, must be supported at intervals, in the manner usual in awningsor tent-covers,to prevent it sagging or resting on the surface of theice.

Having now fully described my invention and the means or method I preferof carrying it into effect, I would remark that in the specifloat-ionfiled by me this day, along with an application for a patent forimprovements in refrigerating or freezing liquids, claim is made to theemployment of an aqueous solution of glycerine in lieu of brine orsaline solutions in the manufacture of ice, and that therefore I do notclaim broadly as part of the present invention the use of glycerine as asubstitute for brine in ice-making.

What I do claim under the present Letters Patent is-- 1. In an apparatusfor the production and maintenance of ice in skating-rinks, the elevatedreservoir I,'which supplies the refrigerating-pipes B on the floor ofthe rink, in combination with the refrigerator E, which receives andcools the refrigerating medium from the pips B, and with the pump G forsupplying the reservoir from the refrigerator, substantially ashereinbefore described and set forth.

2. A flexible sheet or cover to be extended a short distance above theice in skatingrinks as a non-conductor when the ice is not in use.

JOHN GAMGEE. Witnesses:

Jim. T. Proxn'r'r, Gno. F. GRAHAM.

